A walk in the park

Rockwood Park! It is the largest urban park in Canada at 2,200 acres and was designed by Calvert Vaux, one of the designers of Central Park in New York. Another point of interest is that in 1907 a court battle had to settle the question of who has the rights to the ice - the ice cutters (because no one had freezers at that time) or the skaters. The skaters won and subsequently in 1926, Charlie Gorman (a proud Saint Johner) won the World Speedskating Championships there at Lily Lake before 20,000 fans.
Our little visit was not quite so historic but it WAS Simeon's first walk in the woods and we thoroughly enjoyed our snowy stroll. Here they are reflecting on Robert Frost.

Dust Collectors

I've had some of these shots kicking around my hard drive for two years or longer. Some are more recent, but all of them are pictures about which I said, "Hmm, maybe I'll post that" and promptly forgot about. So here they are, in no particular order, back from the brink of oblivion.Trees reflected in a frosty window at dawn.

The Great Horned Caterpillar of Belleisle Bay (?!)

My sea turtle skull has a new home

My love:)

Self portrait

Frankencord

Ok just kidding:) We're back online. After trying to repair the cord again last night, I wrote the previous post on the last legs of the battery and retired to bed in defeat around 12:30. Though I was exhausted, I couldn't sleep because it made no sense to me that what I'd done hadn't worked. But then it came to me, and I got up this morning and ripped the poor cord apart even more. Having spliced everything back together in this hideously roughshod (and exposed) work of amateurism, I now have a working cord once more. Yay.

Offline

Our laptop cord died. It died a while ago, and I got it going again with a patch job, but now it's gone for good. There's a new one making its way to us from Hong Kong. See you then!

Green cleaning

I've heard a lot about vinegar and baking soda as homemade cleaners but I'm now adding tea tree oil to the list. We've been using it in our laundry when we clean Simeon's diapers and in the dirty diaper bag to neutralize any odour, but apparently that's just the beginning.

It can also used as an air freshener, all-purpose antibacterial cleaner, mold and mildew cleaner/repellent as well as all its medicinal uses. The great thing about it is that a few drops go a long way and it can be found almost anywhere; we get ours at Superstore.

Find out more here about tea tree oil and it's uses and this site provides recipes for other homemade, eco-friendly cleaners. So, as you run out of Mr. Clean or Pine-Sol think about making your own alternative.

If you know of any other green solutions, we'd love to hear them!

Cold

I found the best graveyard tree today. Here it stands, smack in the middle of St. Joseph's Cemetery on Westmorland Road. And it just.... fits.

Newly Revised and Updated

I'm subbing in a machine shop class this week. Came across this gem, Modern Machine-Shop Practice, on a shelf in the shop. It was originally published in 1887, so this 1906 edition contains reams of important additions and up-to-date information.

Four Smiles

Do A Little Dance...

Snowy Lion Rampant

At the corner of Prince William & King.
Sorry I couldn't get closer - it was too high up:) But if you click on the close-up to make it larger, it looks a lot cooler.

~S.

Merry Christmas

We had a superbly wonderful Christmas, first at Ruth's folks and then at mine. Simeon spent his time staring at tree lights and the like. Beth was home from Korea which was cool, and all in all we couldn't have asked for a better day.

You?

And now for his debut!

Kudos, Dan Piraro

30 Days

Simeon was one month old yesterday. Here he is at one hour old...
...and at one month!

Bored much?

Wanna waste some time and laugh yourself to tears while doing it? Head over to icanhascheezburger.com... there are 161 pages of pictures like this:)

The Simeon Shakespeare Company

Little Simeon has been waxing dramatic of late, staging several brilliant productions of some of Shakespeare's finer tragedies. Here is but a taste: yesterday afternoon he stole the show as the lead role in Macbeth:

"IS THIS A DAGGER I SEE BEFORE ME?!"

Following that well-received matinée performance, he played a gripping Mercutio (New York Times raves, "Such believable rage!") in Romeo & Juliet:

"A PLAGUE O' BOTH YOUR HOUSES!!"

Later that evening (he does keep a marvelously busy schedule) he fell to soliloquizing, with several stirringly ponderous excerpts from Hamlet:

"To be or not to be... that is the question..."

The press has pounced upon the productions of this prodigious performer, and news of his success is circling the globe. In unrelated news, early reports out of London, England, say that the world-renowned Royal Shakespeare Company of Stratford has decided to disband after 47 years of staging the greatest plays ever written. A spokesman for the RSC commented only briefly, cryptically citing "unapproachable competition from across the pond."

Hmmm

Figure 2.6 Amount of space required to transport the same number of passengers by car, bus, or bicycle. (Poster in city of Muenster Planning Office, August 2001).

Eco-Baby

For those of you who were curious, this is what Simeon's cloth diapers look like. We've got the whole spectrum of vibrant colours in these little marvels. They work wonderfully; we're so happy with them, and they sure save a pile of money!
(Those little white things are the adjustable snaps.)

Get in my belly!

Came home earlier this week to find two lobsters in the kitchen:) These were courtesy of my father, who generally heads back down to Dipper Harbour at the opening of each lobster season to crew a boat with old friends. Thanks Dad!

Happy Birthday Ruth!

Well, Ruth's birthday fell on the 16th this year - 24 years! In honour of this, some friends came over at supper time bearing gifts and Chinese food:) And Simeon ordered an ice cream cake, so we were all set!